The green energy scam continues to cost North
Carolinians. Duke/Progress Energy is
forced by the state to purchase renewable sources such as solar. Of course, these pie-in-the-sky technologies
are costly and inefficient. The News and
Observer reported the following:
At a time that Progress Energy is seeking a 14
percent rate increase for residential customers in North Carolina, the Raleigh
power company wants to slash payments as much as 29 percent for electricity it
buys from solar generators and other renewables producers. If approved by the N.C. Utilities Commission, the
request would reduce rates the electric utility pays for green energy to levels
not seen since 1984, when there was no green energy to speak of in North
Carolina.
The power company’s request is tied to the
plummeting cost of natural gas, which is lowering the market price of
electricity nationwide. Progress contends that it is now overpaying for the
green energy it has to buy under state law, and passing on those inflated costs
to its customers, who ultimately bear the financial burden in their monthly
bills.
The move to cut rates comes at a crucial time for
solar power in the state as the industry has nearly weaned itself off a key
subsidy.
Only a few years ago, power companies paid solar
generators a premium of about 12 cents for every kilowatt hour of power,
roughly twice as much in subsidy support as the solar producers made from
selling electricity. Today, solar producers typically receive less than 1 cent
a kilowatt hour as a subsidy.
The shrinking subsidy – known as a “renewable energy
certificate” – had solar advocates congratulating themselves for creating a
self-sustaining industry in relatively short order. With the subsidy expected to
go away in the near future, North Carolina’s solar industry is operating on
razor-thin margins and could come to a standstill if Progress significantly
cuts payments for electricity, advocates warn.
“There would be a big curtailment,” said Richard
Harkrader, chief executive at Carolina Solar Energy, a Durham developer. “The
stuff under contract would go ahead, but it would be very difficult to build
any new (solar projects).”
Earlier this year, a hearing was held in
Charlotte. Consumers blamed the energy
companies of profiteering.
Unfortunately, these outraged citizens are unaware of a law that
requires Duke/Progress to purchase a resource that is costly; a cost that is
passed onto them.
The Democrats would have us believe that renewables
will save the planet. And that you
should be happy to pay higher energy bills to save Mother Earth. After all, you’re nothing compared to the
environment.
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